


The Hollow: The Champions of the Hollow

by TheTombedSpirit2001



Category: The Hollow (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24451822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTombedSpirit2001/pseuds/TheTombedSpirit2001
Summary: Life in Ironwood Grove was nothing special. Everyone went about their normal business, even when things go so wrong. That's how it was for six teenagers before they found six stone coins and gained unique powers. Now they are under the mentoring of a talking tree and their high school drama teacher to save the world from a demon monk and his army and his 'master'. Can they trust each other, or is Earth destined to crumble?
Relationships: Adam/Original Male Character(s), Kai/Reeve (The Hollow), Mira/Skeet (The Hollow), Vanessa/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Earth: 35 Million Years Ago

The forest was barren, wasted. Empty of all life. What few animals survived scattered as screams of agony echoed across the forest. Crows cawed over the chaos as they ate their fill out of the many corpses spread about the field.

Thunder clashed from above as the only living creature stumbled into the massacre. A man, probably in his late thirties, studied the horrific image before him as his face creased at all the suffering of the people he was sworn to protect.  
A moan of agony signalled him to sounds of life and his limbs moved to help. It was a tree, living. But only barely. He could tell that she was slipping away. Tenderly, he placed his hand into her remaining limb as she stared at him with bleary eyes.

"Forgive me, my friend," he spoke to her in their native tongue. "I will fix this. I swear." the tree gasped for breath one final time before finally succumbing to her wounds. The Tree began to rot away, leaves turning brown and falling from her breaking branches until only a single seed was left.

The man picked it up. He had only one chance. But he needed to buy her time.

“Help. Please.” And almost like magic, a figure in a red cloak with blue skin appeared before him, a worried expression on his face as he took in his friend’s wounded state.

“What happened?”

"Gustaf, Olnelya is dead, but her core, her seed, lives. She has but one chance to survive. Take her to the Yggdrasil, bury her seed in its roots. She will be tied to the Hollow, but she’ll live. "He told the hooded figure, "Akuma will not stop until his master reigns supreme." His hand reached into his pocket to retrieve six stone coins. Each with a different coloured middle made of amber.

Quickly, he pushed them into Gustaf’s hands, who tried to refuse them, “But you’ll be without your armour.” "It is too late. Akuma has already killed the others. I was only able to get away with their coins. I will hold off Akuma for as long as I can while you hide them. Go to the Surface. If I… if I fail, Akuma won’t think to look for them there. Seek out those who are worthy. They will come to you when it is time. Now, go!"

Gustaf wanted to protest, but nodded solemnly and opened a portal with a snap of his fingers, taking the seed and the coins with him, but not before giving the man one last sad look.

“I hope I’ll see you again, my friend.”

An evil chuckle gave him cause to raise his head and turn around to face the Demon King himself. The one responsible for the slaughter of his teammates and friends.

Akuma, leader of the Akki Monk Clan. And in his hand was his most prized weapon; the Ishibo.

"You were a fool to think you could stop us. My master's arrival is inevitable." the man did not cower and stared at him evenly.

"As are the next Champions, demon. I have already seen them, and the blessings they will bring when they arrive. And if my sacrifice will bring them here, so be it." he told him, his eyes glowing white as he began floating in the air. Akuma grinned as he twirled his staff, and leapt into the air.

The warrior rose boulder into the air and threw them at the demon. But the demon was quick and hopped off each one until he was near him. With a mighty swing of his weapon, Akuma struck the man’s eyes, making the man cry out as he fell out of the air and onto the floor. The man wept, a purple scar now over his face.

His eyes are useless now.

Akuma laughed cruelly. “How sad. Look, my Akki Warriors, as the mighty Red Champion falls. Weak and powerless, just like all those who refuse my master. Unworthy.” The Terracotta monsters around them laughed and snickered, as the hooded man struggled to his feet.

“But I am worthy…” and as though through sheer force of will, his eyes glowed, despite the burning pain on his face, “And you of all people should know my power is the power of the mind.”

Suddenly, the Ishibo started to crack in the Demon King’s hands, all the down from top to bottom. The man quickly ducked for cover as Akuma and his Akki followers were blown back by the abrupt explosion of the Ishibo. The flashes of white and purple would have been blinding if not for the permanent loss of eyesight. It wasn’t until the Demon was miles away from the explosion that he finally hit the floor. The Demon fell back on his side, rising quickly only to discover that the energy of the Ishibo was backfiring on him. He watched in horror as his body seeped terracotta, before coating his body and hardening. His mouth bubbled with clay until he was completely covered and frozen in place.  
The warrior, however, remained where he was, the glow of his eye wound fading. Still, as stone as flames trickled. Finally, the man sat up, more exhausted than ever, and walked over to the shattered Ishibo. Tenderly picking up the pieces, the man walked away from the destruction calmly.

Akuma was gone. And so is his chance to bring forth his master. But he will be back.

And so will the Champions of the Hollow.


	2. A Hollow Way of Living

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam's got detention. So does Mira. And now Adam's forced to do a history project with the rich kid in order to escape death by grading card. And now, he's stuck in the woods with people he's not particularly happy with right now, and there are explosions, police, weird magic coins...
> 
> Wait, what?

* * *

Adam Rodríguez was not having a good day. He was sitting outside the principal’s office, trying not to pay attention as his mother and Mrs Connors went at each other’s throats. He was sporting a black eye and a split lip as he tapped his foot to the rhythm playing on his earbuds.

Sitting across from him was Gavin Connors himself, along with his posse, Steven and Butch, the former of the trio looking much better off than Adam looked or felt at the moment. And was shooting a deadly glare at him, as though it was his fault that Adam was the one that got the beat down and that Gavin was finally caught and getting punished for it.

You can probably guess what happened here.

The Hispanic boy tried not to make eye contact, but he was eventually rescued when Principal Jacobson stepped out of the room and gave them both a glare that would send toddlers piddling their pants.

“Inside.”

“Gavin. You and your friends just earned detention for your behaviour today. We have a strict no fighting policy here in this school. Those ‘no fisticuffs’ posters lining the halls aren’t for show.” Mrs Jacobson scolded them, but both boys couldn’t find it in themselves to look her in the eye.

Mrs Jacobson sighed bitterly, and turned to Adam, “I don’t know how you always manage to get yourself tangled up in all these fights but you know I can’t make any exceptions.” Adam’s mother scoffed but remained silent beside her husband as she glared daggers at Gavin. “You may have not started the fight but you did attempt to fight back. Hopefully, detention can straighten you all out. Now that’s all for today, but I expect you to be here Saturday to serve detention.”

Both boys got up and exited the office. Gavin made to leave with his mother, but not before stopping in beside Adam to whisper in his ear.

“See you tomorrow, fag.” He spits at his feet and laughed before leaving with his mum.

Adam looked at his parents and sighed. It was gonna be a long day.

* * *

**Saturday**

Adam and his father sat in the car in silence. And it wasn’t the comfortable kind of silence. It was the kind of silence that just begged to stay that way so that an argument didn’t have the chance to be spoken aloud.

“I don’t know what to do with you, Adam. It feels like your picking fights left and right.” “That’s not what it’s like.” “First it’s Gavin Connors-“ "I didn’t even do anything and he keeps coming at me-“ “Don’t interrupt me. And then it was Reeve. Who’s next? Mira?” Adam went silent at the mention of his ex-best friend’s name and turned away. His father shook his head in disappointment.

“Like… I just don’t get it. You think I want to come to this school as the math teacher whose son keeps trying to turn the hallways into a fighting ring?” Adam looked outside the window, refusing to talk. “Son. Your mother is worried sick. Every time you enter the house, it’s with a new bruise. We can’t help you if you don’t tell us anything.”

The boy remained silent.

Mr Rodríguez huffed and opened Adam’s door. The demand was clear. Adam got out of the car and went inside.  
Inside, Adam tried to make his way into class as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to risk running into Gavin, who for sure was serving detention as well along with his posse. The last thing he needed right now was an atomic wedgie from Mr Original.

But as he turned a corner, he bumped into someone he was quite surprised to see.

“Mira?”

The blue-haired girl blinked in surprised at seeing Adam, but smiled and quickly embraced him. “I figured it’d be an amount of time before you ended up in here. You get into more fights then a WWE champ.” Adam chuckled.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” And it was true. Adam has gotten into more fights then he’d care to admit. And sadly, thanks to his average physique, he always loses. But Adam then remembered that Mira was here. In detention.

“Wait. How are you in detention?” Mira immediately scowled. “Mr Voulcan didn’t take kindly to the fact that I wouldn’t partake in the dissection of a live frog in Science yesterday.”

Ah. It was common knowledge that Mira was a vegetarian and a vivid animal rights enthusiast. And that she had a savage rivalry with Ironwood High’s science teacher, Mr Voulcan. Mr Voulcan was a very demanding individual, expecting everyone in his class to follow his rules without complaint. One time, he made Reeve and another girl, Vanessa Sinclair, stay behind and clean up the classroom after they broke the enclosure of his prized pet snail, Louie.

Some rumours went around that he even made them where a butler and maid outfit respectively for the punishment.

Not gonna lie, Adam kinda wishes he got to see it.

“He’s a jerk.” “Thank you! Finally, someone who agrees with me.” Adam smiled as they walked together to detention before Mira put an arm out to stop him.

“Oh. Right. Before I forget, I feel I should tell you. Reeve is here to.” Adam’s face went stoic as Mira continued. “Listen, just don’t sit near him and please try not to cause trouble with him, okay.” “Reeve’s the one who-“ “Ah! Promise me!”  
They had a little stare down, before Adam’s shoulders slumped. “Fine.” Mira smiled and nudged him in the stomach. The boy smiled and they continued on.

* * *

It was loud.

Rap music played over one of the detentionaire’s stereos as everyone was in their own little groups. There were gossip, laughter and the sound of text messages being exchanged echoed in their ears, but what captured Adam’s attention the most was Gavin and his posse, leering at him as he and Mira hopped down the stairs.

Adam wasn’t the only one nervous. But Mira was mostly nervous due to the fact that Reeve was just standing in the corner, leaning against it casually as he spoke with Skeet and Vanessa. Their conversation though was put on hold in favour of Reeve staring daggers into the back of Adam’s head.

Mira noticed some other faces too. Kai McLoud was there as well, trying to keep attention away from himself by making himself as small as possible in his little corner at the back of the room.

Mira didn’t know much about Kai. She knew that he’s best friends with her brother, Miles, was rich and that he was the brightest kid in school when it came to engineering and shop class, but other than that, he was just another face in the crowd.

A face that Gavin decides would make a decent victim. Gavin purposely brushes past him, quite harshly, causing all of Kai’s stuff to fall onto the floor.

“Oh! Sorry, man!” He didn’t sound sorry at all as Gavin picked up a fidget dice. “Here.” Kai cautiously goes to retrieve his property, but Gavin lifts his hand out of reach last second.

“You’re a freak. Do you realize that? I had to listen to you play with this thing for weeks.” Gavin dropped it to the ground and crushed it under his heel. Kai flinched but didn’t say anything. Just turned his eyes back to his desk. Mira’s heart broke for the boy. Adam felt bad that the kid was being made a victim to Gavin’s games as well.

“Hey! Look at me when I’m f***ing talking to you!” Adam could see that Kai was on the verge of a panic attack. The kid was starting to hyperventilate. Adam couldn’t watch this anymore.

“Knock it off, Gavin.” The entire class went silent. Reeve and Skeet were watching with interest, Mira with worry, and Vanessa merely looked annoyed that her precious time was being wasted like this. Kai looked over at Adam in surprise. Like he wasn’t expecting anyone to step up and help him. Adam honestly didn’t expect himself to. He felt like the same little kid that used to run away from Gavin all the way to his house.

He can already hear the childish insults Gavin used to spit at his way before he upgraded to homophobic slurs and racist insults.

_“Dumb-dumb A-dumb! Dumb-dumb A-dumb!”_

“What did you say to me, fairy?” Adam gulped but held his ground. “I-I said stop.” Gavin scoffed, and made his way to him, slowly. Adam, to his credit, stood his ground but kept his eyes on the floor. “Why don’t make me, A-dumb?” Gavin then mockingly tilted his head and tapped his chin, egging him to hit him.

“C’mon.” Adam clenched his hand into a fist. He wanted to. He really wanted to. But the last thing he needed was to be a part of a fight in detention. Not unless he wanted an expulsion. It was a stand-off for what seemed like a while now. Before a slow clap from the top of the staircase signalled everyone to a new player.

Gustaf Hickinbottom, Ironwood’s drama teacher was slowly applauding the scene with a bright smile. “Excellent performance you guys! Really! I truly felt the tension in the room. Ooh! I got the chills. Now, everyone please return to your seats, it’s time to get ready for detention.”

Gavin scoffed and backed off. But his eyes held a message. A warning.

_I’ll see you Monday._

Everyone got into their seats and detention began.

“Now, I’m sure you guys are eager to get out of here, but Mr. Grim wanted me to remind you all that your Ironwood History projects are due this Monday.” Adam’s head shot up from his desk. What did he say? “Monday?” Adam squeaked and he looked over at Mira, eyes pleading with her to tell him he didn’t forget. But Mira’s tired expression was all the confirmation he needed.

Shit.

“Yes, Adam. Is that an issue? It’s been assigned for the last two weeks.” Adam fidgeted on the hot seat as he could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He could hear Gavin snickering.

_“Dumb, Dumb A-dumb! Dumb, Dumb A-dumb! Dumb, Dumb A-dumb!”_

“Don’t you remember Adam?” the Hispanic looked up in surprise when Kai spoke up to him, “We’re working together on the stone totem pole in Ironwood Forest.” Adam did not remember that at all, but Kai nodded at him very obviously to get the message. Oh… oh!

“Oh! Y-yeah. That project. Yeah! Totally prepared for it!” Kai nodded in agreement and Gustaf studied the two of them for a few seconds, which felt like minutes. For a second, Adam was afraid that Gustaf had caught them in their white lie, but the man smirked and shrugged.

“Well, then. Mr. Grim shall have no reason to worry then, will he?” they both sighed in relief, “And who knows, maybe your project will finally tell us wether or not the legends are true.” The two boys looked at each other, confused, before turning back to Mr. Hickinbottom, “Legend, sir?” “Oh just some myth that the trees of Ironwood Grove were once a living species and that they were wiped out by demons. But legend has it that one tree’s seed was taken and is buried underneath the town.” Gustaf said in a dark, foreboding tone, before immediately falling into fits of giggles.

“But who knows?”

The bell rang and everyone leapt out of their seats and made a beeline for the doors.

“One hour! You can’t go one hour without Gavin threatening to bash your head in! And now you mean to tell me you forgot to do your history homework.” Mira complained as Adam looked pretty sorry with himself as they exited the building. “I’m sorry, Mira. But that kid- he- he wasn’t even trying to defend himself and that was… and I had a lot of stuff on my mind when that assignment was handed out.” Adam went silent. Mira looked sympathetic. She remembered what happened two weeks ago.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of you for that, but now Gavin’s out to get you on Monday.” “I know-“ they were interrupted when Kai stumbled out of the door, his backpack caught on the door. “Ah. Door.” He was spun around from momentum and came face to face with Adam and Mira and looked considerably happy to see them. But Mira could still see the walls held up around him. Like he didn’t trust them or himself to not make a fool of himself.

“Hey! Uh…” Kai shuffled his shoes, nervous. “I just, uh, want to say thanks for that back there.” Adam and Mira smiled comfortingly at the redhead’s nervousness.

“It’s no problem. Gavin’s a jerk. Believe me, I know from experience. And thanks for giving me an alibi. But now that means that I really will have to go to the forest is I want to ace this assignment.” Kai once again jumped down the stairs to get their attention.

“Well, lucky for you, I’m almost done with the assignment. I just need to go and collect a few more samples. I’m heading out there tonight if you guys wanna come with?” The two looked at each other, contemplating, before smiling. “Yeah, sure thing. Meet us at the gate at 7:00?” Kai’s face lit up with joy.

“T-totally! I’ll see you guys there.” He rushed past them, turning around a few times to wave goodbye, nearly tripping over his own feet as he did. Adam and Mira exchanged glances and giggled.

“Well, he’s excited. C’mon. We better start getting ready.”

* * *

After Adam and Mira explained to their respective parents where they were going, they were giving permission to go to Ironwood Forest so long as they were careful and stuck together. Adam backpacked on Mira’s moped as they made their way through the many roads it took to get there.

When they finally reached the gate to the forest, they saw Kai there, with an expensive-looking unicycle hoverboard under his arm as he waited nervously.

When he spotted them, he looked beyond relieved. Kai took a deep breath.

_Just play it cool Kai. You only get one chance at a first impression, so don’t blow it._

With that mental message in mind, he put on his best smile and waved. “Nice ride.” “Thanks. Yours too.” Kai rubbed his hands together as the chilly air came close to freezing his fingers. “So. Are we ready to go?”

* * *

“Ugh! You didn’t tell me that I had to lug around all this equipment.” Adam complained as he carried Kai’s backpack, which held the majority of the redhead’s equipment, with Kai carrying the other, much lighter, half. Mira smiled as she walked ahead of him, hands-free as they followed Kai to the crash site.

“Well, I figured that maybe you felt the need to participate in this since I already did most of the work.” “I thought we were out here to just get a ‘few more samples’. Do you really need all this junk- wait? Why is there dynamite in here!?” “You never know what you need on an expedition like this.”

Mira giggled at the back-and-forth banter that was breaking out between the two. It reminded her of a simpler time.

They were quiet for a little while longer, the sound of crickets and owls providing background noise but they still brought little comfort to the silence.

“It’s really creepy out here, right? Like, really, really creepy. Can you believe I had to guts to do this all alone before? This kind of stuff is enough to give you amnesia.”

Adam and Mira glanced at each other. “What do you mean?”

“You know. ‘Amnesia’? Where you have trouble sleeping?”

“Uh, I think you mean insomnia.” Kai chuckled.

“No way. My memory is pretty sharp. Somebody needs to buy a ‘theesorius’!” Adam frowned.

“Thesaurus!”

“Bless you!” Kai responded, before trying to scale a large fallen tree. Mira turned to her best friend.

“Was he serious, or was that a ‘dad joke’?” “It’s a major concern either way.” Kai fell off the tree to the other side with a thump, followed by a pained groan, making the duo laugh.

“Here we are!”

They peak over the tree to see Kai, a few leaves stuck in his hair as he was dramatically posing, and her eyes widened in wonder.

“Woah.”

Before them stood a massive stone pole with carving on each side of its rectangular body. Spikes of an unknown mineral jutting out from around it, like a pebble thrown into a pond that was now frozen in time. The mineral glowed in the dim lighting of the fading sun. Like a rainbow of colors.

It was beautiful. It was forebodingly scary. It was out of this world.

Adam looked just as amazed as he put the box down to marvel at the sight before him. “What is this?” Kai grinned widely.

“This is the eighth wonder of the world, about to be studied and documented by yours truly.” Kai stumbled his way down as he trekked down the hill, “I came upon this when I ran in here.” Mira frowned.

“And you ran into the middle of the woods, why?” Kai rubbed his neck before grinning sheepishly. “Oh, no reason. No reason important anyway. But we’re getting off-topic. Notice the spikes. They're made of a mineral that has never been discovered before in any known record. And the language carved into the stone, it’s a language I have not been able to find anything about on the internet! Do you realize how big this is!? I’m excited! Are you guys excited?!”  
Adam and Mira chuckled nervously before Kai grabbed the bag and yanked it off Adam’s shoulders and immediately got to work. After a minute or so, Mira scratched her head. “So, anything we can do?” Kai looked up, realizing that they’re kinda just standing there.

“Oh, right. Huh, Adam, can you help set up…”

* * *

**Meanwhile: In Ironwood Museum**

Inside a large museum, a large party was being held as the guests ranged from famous explorers, authors, newspaper reporters, college professors and people of political importance. They were all in the Japanese exhibit, and most of the weapons on display were ancient weapons, amour, jewellery, masks and statues.

But the most prominent one of them was the terracotta statue of what has been called ‘The Screaming Demon’ due to the demon’s face being locked in a cry of fury. Protected by bulletproof glass, it is the crown jewel of the Japanese exhibit. One hour and fifteen minutes into the party, it was dark out now and the guests were already making new friends, getting drunk, as well as making business offers amongst themselves. No-one took notice that the eyes of the demon were starting to glow a bright red. The body itself glowed a bright purple as the glass around it began to crack. No-one noticed at first until the web marks on the glass and the noise alone alerted them of the supernatural phenomena happening before them.

“Okay. Whoever’s bright idea this is, very funny, now knock it out.” The other guest looked understandably more freaked out as the clay of the statue looked like it was melting.

“I was hoping this was a publicity stunt.”

“The statue’s moving!” a frightful woman cried out, and true to form, the statue was indeed moving. The red glow in his eyes faded to reveal white pupils, which dilated as the limbs shook to break free from its terracotta prison. Finally, the glass shattered and everyone ducked to not get hit by the flying shards of glass. When they raised their heads, there stood the demon.

Akuma rose to his feet, not at all weakened by his eons of slumber. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, looking around him with contemplating eyes.

“So this is the modern world. Not much seems to have changed.” He looked down at the party guests and smiled evilly, “The same, pathetic mortals, grovelling for their puny, insignificant lives.” The museum director tried to stand up to the Demon Monk.

“N-n-now who do you think you are? Barging in on my party, terrifying my guests, and destroying my exhibit!?” The director demanded. The Demon smiled.

“Who am I? I am Akuma. Leader of the Akki Monk Clan, the faithful general of the mighty Colrath. Your future master.”

Everyone looked positively terrified as the demon strode past them and picked up a large Japanese katana. He swished it around, testing its weight. “It’s almost perfect balance, and it’ll have to do until I can retrieve my Ishibo.”

“Are you gonna kill us?” a timid voice spoke up from the crowd, making him turn around to face them. He was silent for a few minutes, scaring them beyond their wits before he shrugged.

“No.” They all sighed in relief.

Before a colossal roar echoed across the museum, shaking the walls, amour sets and everything else that wasn’t solid and nailed to the ground.

“W-w-what was that?”

“Katsuro. My greatest and most fearsome warrior. You will be joining him for dinner tonight.” Everyone froze as the demon casually responded. “You said you’d let us go!” Akuma put a hand to his chest, feigning a scandalized expression.

“I promised no such thing. I said that I wasn’t going to kill you. I said nothing on Katsuro’s behalf.”

Akuma turned his back and walked out the glass doors, screams of agony and death echoing behind him, along with the roars of hunger, fury and victory.

* * *

**Back at the Crash Site**

With the equipment, finally set up, Adam put his hands to his back and pushed, hearing his bones creak as he was finally finished lugging all of that heavy shit around.

He turned to Kai, praying to God there was nothing else to do.

Kai flawlessly worked on his computer, analyzing the samples of ordinary soil and the dirt that was around the crash. Kai finally noticed Adam’s pleading face and nodded.

“That’s all I needed. Feel free to kick back and relax.” Adam sighed in massive relief. “Don’t mind if I do.” He muttered before remembering the creek he saw not too far from here.

“I’m gonna get a drink. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Okay, sure.”

It took about twenty minutes, but Adam was able to find the creek again. He dropped to his knees and cupped his hands with the water before taking a large gulp. He let out a loud sigh. Lugging that junk around made him parched.

He went for another scoop before noticing a figure ahead of him. In the dim light, he had to squint and really concentrate to get the person’s features.

It was…

“Skeet?”

The blonde was down to his briefs, hopping up and down in place, psyching himself up to jump. Finally, he did, jumping away from the ledge and wrapping his arms around his legs with a loud “CANNONBALL!”

The splash was pretty good, and Adam gave a half-smile at the teen.

Before he realized he was not surfacing.

Adam looked around the lake, hoping to see the blonde crawl out of the water at the edges, but he couldn’t see anything.

“Skeet?” Adam called out nervously. Nothing. No bubbles, no splashes. Oh, God. Was he unconscious? Did he hit his head on the way down? Was he drowning!?

“Skeet!?” Adam ran down to the lake and looked around in panic. “Skeet? Skeet!”

“What?”

Adam spun around, shocked that the blonde snuck up behind him without him noticing, especially with how he was hopping on one foot trying to get his shoes on.

Adam put his hand to his chest, “Dude, I almost had a heart attack.” The Hispanic complained as the other boy finished getting back in his clothes.

The boy said nothing, shrugging with indifference at his nervous breakdown. Adam rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “What are you even doing here?”

“Me, Reeve and Vanessa are out here camping. I’m supposed to be out getting firewood while they set up the tents, but, I saw the lake and that wicked ledge and I couldn’t resist!” the beanie-clad kid grinned as he shook his head, water droplets flying into Adam’s face.

Adam gave a deadpan glare, before realizing what Skeet just said.

“Great, that’s all I need. Reeve here to pick a fight.” Skeet frowned, looking offended on his friend’s behalf.

“Well, considering what Reeve told me, I wouldn’t blame him for picking a fight with you. I can’t believe you kicked him out of your group.”

Adam nearly growled as he stood taller against Skeet, “Hey! It was Reeve who ditched me and Mira.” He said no other words beyond that, as though that was all the explanation he needs to explain Adam and Reeve’s animosity.

Skeet crossed his arms and looked away, frowning, “Yeah, whatever.”

Back at the crash site, Mira was looking at the rocks, marvelling at the beauty of the unique rocks as they glowed in the moonlight. As Kai waited for the soil samples to work through the analyzation process, he couldn’t help but glance at her way. He’ll be the first to admit she was pretty. Whenever Miles would come over, he would only ever complain about how annoying and how much of a ‘goodie-two-shoes’ she was.

But Kai saw nothing wrong.

“So… you’re Miles’ sister, right?” Mira looked over to the auburn hair boy, “Oh, yeah. I forgot you’re friends with him, for whatever reason.” Mira rolled her eyes as Kai giggled.

“Yeah.” Mira looked over to him, and she just had to ask. “So… Why are you friends with Miles?” before Kai could answer, his computer starting beeping erratically.

“Whoa!”

“Whoa? What ‘whoa’?” Mira crouched down behind him, peering over his shoulder as he studied the results.

“The soil samples I got. One is from the school’s football field. The other is a sample from right here, at the totem pole. And look, the totem sample is 1,000 times more powerful and fertile here then volcanic soil. The nutrients are off the charts!”

“Wow. But wait, how does a totem pole made of regular old rock turn soil into a gardener's goldmine?” “Don’t know. Maybe it’s the minerals in the spikes.” Mira frowned. This was getting more interesting by the minute. She began to think, before noticing the spires beginning to glow. She walked over to the one glowing blue. Kai was talking about something scientific, but she wasn’t paying attention because her focus was solely on the glow.

She reached her hand out to touch it, when Kai reeled her back into reality, “Mira?” the Asian girl jumped when Kai addressed her, concern on his face. “Are you okay?” Mira looked between him and the spike and took a shaky breath. She was about to answer before she saw something behind him.

“Kai…” Kai turned around, worried that a predator or something was sneaking up on him, only to be bewitched with wonder as another one of the spikes glowed, this time, yellow.

Like Mira, he was tempted to touch it. It was as though it was calling to him.

Suddenly, a soft whirring alerted the duo of the other spikes glowing brightly as they began to shake. The totem pole itself shook side to side, as though possessed. The whirring went louder until Mira and Kai had to cover their ears. It was so loud. Cracks began to appear as the crash site was bathed in colors of blue, yellow, red, pink, green and white.

Finally, it all fell apart.

Like history was repeating itself, an actual explosion happened right in the centre, knocking Mira and Kai off their feet and had a rough landing, as the ground began to shake violently.

Kai and Mira weren’t the only ones experiencing this. Back at the creek, Adam and Skeet heard the explosion before struggling to keep their footing as the earthquake ensued. And back at Skeet’s campsite, Reeve and Vanessa got to the floor and covered their heads as they waited for the shaking to stop.

When the shaking was finally over, Adam and Skeet looked at each other. Adam then remembered the explosion they heard earlier.

“Mira! She and Kai are still out there!” Adam rushed off, with Skeet right behind him. “Wait, Mira and McLoud are here too?”

Back at the crash site, Mira and Kai gingerly got up as they took in their surroundings. They quickly checked themselves for injuries, but aside the minor scrapes and bruises, they were generally okay.

They heard the sound of footsteps coming their way, and for a second, Kai thought it was Adam, but a set of black hands lifting him up to face Reeve Malik quickly assured him that it was not Adam.

“What are you doing, dude?” “I’ve been looking at this place for several months now and that’s never happened before!” Kai explained hastily as Adam and Skeet finally make it to the scene, rushing past Vanessa as Adam got in between Reeve and Kai.

“Reeve, back off!” “Mira, you okay?” “Skeet? When did you get here?” the barrage of sentences were really starting to make Kai’s head buzz.

“I’ve seen him up here, before.” Reeve pointed at Kai as though accusing him of a crime, before gesturing to the mess around them, “You can’t just blow stuff up and throw caution to the wind!” Adam scoffed.

“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you, Reeve!” “Hey, I didn’t blow anything up!” “It’s true!” Mira cut in before another argument could go off. Skeet helped Mira stand properly as she wobbled about. “The spikes were glowing different colors and suddenly there was that explosion, and then the earthquake-“

“Explosions don’t just happen out of thin air, they need to be caused by someone,” Vanessa interjected.

“You think it was a terrorist attack?”

“What? Skeet, are you for real? Why would a terrorist set off a bomb in the middle of a forest?”

As the arguing went on, Kai noticed that the spires around the crash site were glowing brighter than ever before. The cracks were just as obvious as before, and just as Kai went to touch it, it triggered one more crack.

And like another explosion, they unanimously shattered, catching the teenagers off guard as they quickly ducked under their arms for cover.

When they opened their eyes, they saw that floating above where the six spikes were, were now six stones, cleanly cut into a circle and each with a colored gem inside.

Kai slowly approached the yellow coin, despite Mira’s motherly warnings, and carefully plucked it out of the air. As soon as he touched it, his mind’s eye showed him an image of a noble lion roaring as he stood on an erupting volcano, unnerved.

He flinched and nearly dropped the coin in shock.

Adam watched Kai with mild concern before noticing the coin with a white gem and was immediately drawn to it. He picked it up and was shown a mighty white tiger roaring on top of a mountain. He gasped in wonder.

Mira was just as attracted to the blue coin as the boys, and the moment she touched it, she was greeted with the vision of a fierce polar bear roaring loudly at the icy open waters. She marvelled at the majestic sight.

Reeve was next, noticing the red coin calling for his attention and when he picked it up, a wolf stood tall in the forest and howled into the moon. He fiddled with it, nearly dropping it as he tried to rationalize what he saw.

Vanessa picked up the pink coin, and like the others around her, she saw a regal owl shrieking as it braved a mighty storm. Her eyes were wide with awe.

Finally, Skeet picked up the green coin, tossing it in the air like it was a fifty-cent piece when he was met with a racing cheetah as it raced through the savannah. “Whoa…” he mumbled.

Kai quickly went over to his stethoscope and put his coin under the lens. As he studied it, the gem inside seemed to pulse with light, as though the gem was comprised entirely of energy.

“What are these things?”

“I don’t know,” Kai confessed, “They’re made of a completely different material to the rock, and the gems… they’re amber, but that is inconclusive to their color pallet. I don’t know.”

“Dudes!” Skeet exclaimed as he carelessly flipped his coin, “We discovered this! We’re gonna be so rich!” Adam quickly rebuffed him.

“Dude! Don’t flip that around. It’s not a toy. It could be radioactive for all we know!” “And yet you're still holding your coin like it’s your teddy bear.”

“Guys! Guys!” Mira got their attention, before gesturing to the sky. “Do you hear that?”

They focused their ears carefully, and there it was.

Sirens.

“Shit! It’s the cops!” Skeet immediately bolted away at Reeve’s words. Vanessa looked pissed. “All our stuff is back at the campsite! If they find it here, they can link it back to us! My parents would kill me!” Reeve nodded and ran off with her to grab their camping gear.

“Same goes for us! We need to grab whatever we can and get out!” Adam nodded and helped Mira grab Kai’s gear. When it was just him, the equipment was many and cumbersome. But with Mira helping, it was evenly divided between them and safely put in their backpacks.

Adam noticed that Kai hasn’t moved from his spot and groaned. He grabbed his shoulder, causing the brunette to jump.

“Come on!”

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them. They were almost at the entrance when they saw that the cops were already there and taking Mira’s bike and Kai’s hoverboard away. Mira cursed, before dragging the boys away to the sides.

With Reeve and Vanessa, they hastily packed up their things and made a b-line for Reeve’s van. “What about Skeet?” “Don’t worry. He’s probably all the way home already, stuffing his face.” He hit the accelerator and zoomed off.

“What about the others?” “What about them?” Reeve gritted his teeth, “What if they get caught and rat out on us? We can’t leave any loose ends.” Reeve grunted in frustration but agreed with him. No doubt that Adam would sing like a bird if they got caught in this mess.

“Hold on to something.” He twisted the wheel, causing the van to spin, kicking up dust as he drove off to try and find the others.

Hearing sirens, Vanessa turned around and cursed under her breathe. “We got a tail.” Reeve grinned, “I love a good chase.” Vanessa glared at him, “If you get us killed, I’m going to come back from the dead just to drag you to Hell!”

“There they are!” Reeve interrupted, pointing at the fleeing figures of Adam, Mira and Kai.

“Vanessa, I’m putting her on cruise. Take the wheel!” “ _Oh mon Dieu_!” Vanessa reached over and steered as Reeve climbed into the back and opened the door.

“Come on! Get in!” Adam, Mira and Kai got as close as they could and Adam jumped on, Reeve grabbing onto his shirt and tossing him in. He held his hand out to Mira and pulled her in, albeit much gentler then he was with Adam. Finally, Kai got on, nearly falling out hadn’t Reeve and Adam grabbed and pulled him in.

They all took a deep breath as Reeve shut the door. Mira quickly noticed that they were missing someone.

“Where’s Skeet?”

Everyone was silent.

“Just go!” was the almost in-sync response and Vanessa put the pedal to the metal.

“Go down the hill! We’re almost free!”

“Guys, there’s a train coming!” “It’s fine! As long as we keep this pace, we’re fine!”

There was a sudden thump on the ceiling as the car was dented in. Out the window, they could see Skeet hanging upside down, his breath fogging up the window as he told them to let him in.

Adam immediately opened the door and let him in. “Are you crazy?!” Skeet grinned.

“Yep!”

The train whistled as Kai and Mira watched it get closer. “Oh, God. We’re gonna die. We’re gonna die!” “We’re not gonna die!” “We’re gonna be okay.” Mira’s comforting tone soothed him better than Reeve’s agitated one.

Adam looked ahead and saw the railroad crossing. “There! That’s our way out!” Vanessa nodded and floored it even harder.

She can do this. She’s Vanessa Sinclair. Of course, she can do this. She can do whatever she wants. No matter what her parents say.

“We’ll make it.” “We’re gonna make it” “I hope we’ll make it.” “We’re dead.”

Vanessa crashed through the railway bars and cheered like she crossed the finish line.

Before the train hit their side, sending the van flying and rolling over. A blur of colors happened as they tumbled down the hill, before finally rolling to a stop at the bottom. The rain started to pour as the six teenagers all laid about the wreckage.

Kai slowly crawled out of the wreck, very weak and sore. But, surprisingly, alive. He for sure thought he was dead.

As his vision began to blur, he could have sworn he saw a portal open before him and a man dressed in familiar clothes walk up to them.

Kai’s face fell in the mud, unconscious.

Whelp, they're dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been gone a while, I only just figured out how to actually write stories on this thing!

**Author's Note:**

> Sup. This my Power Rangers au. Sue me.


End file.
